NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS NEWSLETTERVolume 8, Issue 1
(January, 2004)

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Welcome to the Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter.

Here is what you will find in this issue:

1. What's New on the Neuroscience for Kids Web Site
2. Neuroscience for Kids Site of the Month
3. Neuroscience for Kids Writing Contest - Only One More Month Left
4. Increasing Brain Power
5. Moonshine -- Cheap, and Dangerous
6. E-mail
7. Media Alert
8. Treasure Trove of Brain Trivia
9. Support Neuroscience for Kids
10. How to Stop Your Subscription
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1. WHAT'S NEW ON THE NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS SITE

Neuroscience for Kids had several new additions in December. Here are
some of them:

If you are looking for a detailed, online review of the nervous system,
then the "Advanced Biological Psychology Tutorials" web site is for you.
The site was developed by Dr. Sandra Nagel in the Centre for Psychology at
Athabasca University. Dr. Nagel has constructed 38 separate tutorials
about a variety of neuroscience topics. Each tutorial has three sections:

A) Image-Mapped Tutorial: basic information about a topic illustrated
with pictures. Each tutorial lists references, suggested readings and web
sites for further information. The tutorials can also be viewed in a
"printable" version if you want to print a copy of the material.

B) Matching Self-Test: a brief test to match items in a picture with the
correct answers.

C) Multiple Choice Self-Test: a brief multiple choice quiz to test your
knowledge about the material in the tutorial. (Make sure you read through
ALL of the possible answers before you answer each question.)

The tutorials are written in textbook fashion for university students.
Some people may find the text difficult to read. However, students of all
ages may benefit from this site if they want to explore the nervous system
in detail.
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3. NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS WRITING CONTEST - ONE MORE MONTH

Entries for the NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS WRITING CONTEST are due on February
1, 2004! The complete set of rules and the official entry form for the
contest are available at:

These are some claims that I have seen in recent advertisements. Some ads
quote people who have wonderful things to say about a particular product.
None of the claims made in these ads is supported by any research. The
evidence from research should do the talking for the product, not paid
actors or spokespeople.

Good research must be designed properly to separate fact from fiction.
Such research should include:

a testable hypothesis: an explanation, based on facts, that makes
predictions.

randomization: subjects in the experiment should be placed into
groups in a random manner. In other words, the researchers and the
subjects have no influence on which group the subjects will be in.

blinding: neither the subjects nor the researchers will know which
subjects received a treatment. If blinding is not used, it is possible
that the subjects or researchers may influence the results because they
might assume that the treatment (or lack of treatment) will affect them in
a particular way.

statistical analysis: statistics should be used to determine the
probability that the results are due to chance.

Even if a product comes with a "money back guarantee," you will save time
and energy if you know about the research behind the claim.
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5. MOONSHINE -- CHEAP, AND DANGEROUS

by Ellen Kuwana, Neuroscience for Kids Staff Writer

"Moonshine," or homemade alcohol, is historically associated with the
rural South. A study conducted at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta,
Georgia, found that out of 581 emergency room patients, 9% reported that
they had consumed moonshine in the last five years. This suggests that
moonshine consumption is not limited to rural areas.

Moonshine is often distilled through car radiators or old pipes, so the
homemade brew can contain high levels of lead. Lead is known to cause
blindness and damage the brain. Therefore, it is not surprising that some
of the nicknames for moonshine have to do with how it makes your head
feel: white lightning, skull cracker, pop skull, mule kick, and see seven
stars are all reported names that refer to moonshine.

"Moonshine" is a term that originated in England in the 1700s, and refers
to work done at night, by the light of the moon. It became the term for
illegal whiskey. In the U.S., moonshine was sold by "bootleggers." The
term "bootlegger" was used because bottles were hidden in Colonists' pant
legs, stuck into the top of the boot.

I strongly encourage you to participate in BAW. Your BAW activities do not
have to be complicated. Last month I visited my local public library to
help them with a display of brain books for their window showcase.
Perhaps your school or public library could also arrange a display of
"brainy" books during BAW.
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7. MEDIA ALERT

B. Many neuroscience topics were featured among the top 100 science
stories of the 2003. (Source: Discover magazine, January, 2004)

C. Neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson was featured in the December 7, 2003,
issue of Parade magazine.

D. "What's Up With Tuna?" by Mary Carmichael (Newsweek, December 22, 2003)
discusses the warnings about mercury in fish.

E. "The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's" is a TV program that
debuts on you local PBS station on January 21, 2004. For more information
about this program, see: http://www.pbs.org/theforgetting/about/index.html

F. "Memories of Estrogen" by Bernadine Healy (US News and World Report,
December 29, 2003) is a short biography of neuroscientist Dr. Roberta Diaz
Brinton.

G. The Winter 2003 Special Issue of Scientific American titled "The Brain:
A Look Inside" is now available. This issue contains articles about
mental illness, consciousness, emotions, memory, sensation and perception.
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8. THE TREASURE TROVE OF BRAIN TRIVIA

A. A sperm whale's click is the loudest sound produced by any organism on
the planet. (Source: Discover, December 2003)

C. Neuroanatomist Santiago Ramon y Cajal (1906 Nobel Prize winner) worked
as a barber's apprentice and a shoemaker before his career in
neuroscience.

D. In 2001, approximately 22.8% of the adults in the US were smokers. In
1993, approximately 25.0% of the adults in the US were smokers. (Source:
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 52:953-956, 2003)

E. The corpus callosum, the fiber tract that connects the right and left
hemispheres of the brain, is approximately 10 cm long and 1 cm wide.
(Source: Aminoff, J. and Daroff, R.B. Encyclopedia of the Neurological
Sciences, Amsterdam: Academic Press, 2003)
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9. SUPPORT NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS

To insure that Neuroscience for Kids stays available, we need your help.
If you would like to contribute to the funding of Neuroscience for Kids,
please download one of the forms below. Simply print out the page, fill
out the form, and mail it to the address listed. All contributions are
tax deductible (subject to IRS regulations).

Your comments and suggestions about this newsletter and the "Neuroscience
for Kids" web site are always welcome. If there are any special topics
that you would like to see on the web site, just let me know.